April 1, 2008

Men's Golf Finishes 15th in Arizona

Tough Field; Loper Five Some Again Has Close Scores

Team/Player Results .... Course Stats ... Team Scores

    Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney men's golf team shot a 54-hole total of 913 to finish in 15th place at the Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational in Goodyear, Ariz.

      The tournament was played at the par 72 Palm Valley Golf Club and hosted by Grand Canyon University. Included in the 19-team field were four ranked NCAA Division II squads and two ranked NAIA teams.

      UNK had rounds of 299, 304 and 310 to come in ahead of BYU-Hawaii, St. Cloud State, Colorado State-Pueblo and the "B" team from Grand Canyon.

      Overall, the Lopers registered 30 birdies and 156 pars in the tournament.

      Wayland Baptist (Texas), ranked 4^th in the NAIA, won the tournament (845) by four strokes over Central Oklahoma. Host Grand Canyon was third (863) and Western Washington fourth (864).

      Only five strokes separated the UNK five some. Ord sophomore Devon Kastler (77-74-77) and Kearney sophomore Alex Farrell (74-77-77) each shot a 228 to tie for 61^st place with South Dakota junior Andy Bednar (77-78-75) two strokes back in 69^th.

      Next, Gering sophomore Max Hadenfeldt tied for 76^th with a 232 (75-75-82) with Broken Bow junior Preston Foster tied for 81^st at a 233 (73-79-81).

      Kevin Stinson of Wayland Baptist won the tournament with an 11 under par 205 (72-69-64).

      The Lopers will host a spring invitational this coming Monday-Tuesday (April 7-8) at Meadowlark Hills G.C.